Time and Tide

Posted on June 17, 2022 by Enchanted Seashells

“Time and tide wait for no man”

We can’t stop the passage of time nor the movement of the tides, no matter how much we might want to halt the inexorable inevitability.

This proverb appeared about 1395 in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Prologue to the Clerk’s Tale but I also found a source that said it was recorded as early as 1225 and is reputedly a quote from Saint Mahrer. However, it’s also believed that the expression time and tide wait for no man might be older than that.

My son sent me this photo while he was at Golden Gardens Park in Ballard, Washington on beautiful Shilshole Bay.

It depicts the lowest tide in decades, four feet lower than average.

We have the same exact phone but he takes better pictures than I do, and of course he likes to send them to me to show me what I’m missing.

It’s so true–time and tide wait for no one.

A Lovely Sunday at the Beach

Posted on May 22, 2022 by Enchanted Seashells

Some clouds and sunshine, perfect for these little lefts and rights this morning…

A lineup in the ocean…

And a lineup in the sky. Look up! Pelicans!

Streets closed and a run around town, the Carlsbad 5000.

A Sunday Pictorial

Posted on March 6, 2022 by Enchanted Seashells

Just a day in the life…

Caring for a friend’s old and adorable cat for a couple of days…

Chasing butterflies in the garden…

The clouds hung around after a bit of welcome rain.

A whole lotta bicyclists ride down the beach highway.

There were supposed to be waves up to eight feet but not here, I guess. It was kinda disappointing, but still a beautiful Pacific Ocean scene.

Happy Sunday from sunny Southern California!

From Bunnies to the Beach…

Posted on February 6, 2022 by Enchanted Seashells

First thing this morning, directly outside my bedroom window, I was greeted by not one, not two, but THREE bunnies! I knew right then and there that it was going to be a great day.

I could see this gigantic ship pretty much all the way from my house and I don’t think it moved at all, or very slowly, by the time I made it to the beach. Going north or south, I can’t tell. It was quite a few miles offshore, that’s why it’s not a clear photo.

It’s about seventy degrees and GORGEOUS. No whales or dolphin, just a couple surfers having fun in the smallish waves.

I was sitting crosslegged on top of a cement picnic table on the sidewalk overlooking the beach when someone walked by and told me I looked quite peaceful. Maybe it’s because of the way I was sitting, meditatively, but the thoughts in my head weren’t so serene. It was H-O-T and I was not looking forward to the long UPHILL walk back to Casa de Enchanted Seashells. In addition to those thoughts, I had to use the restroom and the beach bathroom isn’t the most luxurious, but when you gotta go…So I did and then I could no longer delay the inevitable — I walked home.

Dorothy said it: “There’s no place like home.”

Rocky Beach

Posted on February 5, 2022 by Enchanted Seashells

I got up super early and went to the part of the beach that never fails to provide a variety of plentiful rocks for all my projects. This time was no exception. The irony is that there are no seashells here; only rocks. My local beaches aren’t known for seashell collecting, but rocks are welcome treasures, too.

There was the bluest of sunny skies but it was windy and sand was blowing all over the place from another mild Santa Ana.

I was able to find all the rocks I needed, joined by an audience of seagulls and shorebirds. It was so early there were few humans so we had the beach to ourselves.

Every rock is so beautiful and unique; I have a hard time choosing who comes home with me. Just look at them!

Daddy Day Lineup

Posted on June 20, 2021 by Enchanted Seashells

Surf lineup, that is!

Happy Bio/Step/Deadbeat Daddy Day, whichever one applies.

Surf City

Posted on January 12, 2021 by Enchanted Seashells

We’re in the middle of a high surf advisory with sets up to ten feet. Although the bigger waves are south of me, I didn’t feel like driving to La Jolla or Sunset Cliffs; instead I took some pics at my local beach. The air temperature is in the low 70s and it’s simply sparkly and beautiful.

I was hoping to see whales or dolphins, but I wasn’t lucky today. The only animal life out in the water were of the surfer species.

(Some) Creatures Great and Small

Posted on December 20, 2020 by Enchanted Seashells

With a nod to All Creatures Great and Small by veterinarian James Herriot, this is what my Sunday looked like.

We started off the day at the beach and I’m beyond sad that I didn’t have my good camera with me so I couldn’t capture the magic of a school of dolphin jumping and splashing in the water. I’m sure this paddleboarder was happy because they seemed to follow him wherever he went. Trust me, there are about six dolphin in this photo.

On the way home, we saw a bit of an odd sight…check out these seagulls that shouldn’t have been this far away from the beach. They usually only fly inland when there’s a storm, so I have no idea why they were flying around in circles and then perched on the telephone lines.

Today was a work project day in the garden, cleaning up around the rosemary and lavender. I sat down for a minute for a wheatgrass break and this little alligator lizard stopped by to say hi. I scratched his back with a stick and he allowed me to take these pics.

All in all, a great Sunday for creatures great and small.

Wind, Whales, and Linda Ronstadt

Posted on December 4, 2020 by Enchanted Seashells

You probably heard on the news how windy it was here in SoCal. In the local mountains, one gust was clocked at 95 miles an hour!

Even at the coast, wind gusts were almost fifty miles an hour. A shared neighbor fence is just about completely down; it was well on its way before the wind event ‘cos their giant Bird of Paradise was relentlessly pushing it over, so I guess that might be something that will need to be addressed. One day.

Eucalyptus branches are everywhere, wires are down, smoke from a few local fires dot the sky, but the bigger and more dangerous fires are a bit to the north of me in Orange County.

I had to pick up my new glasses (huge and I love them) and make another trip to the dentist to confirm that yes, I do need a root canal, so next week should be a real treat. What a not very fun way to celebrate Hannukah, but I’m grateful the dentist saw it before it got really bad.

I drove home along the beach route and made a quick stop to look for whales. I wasn’t lucky enough to see any this time, but I took some pics. You can see forever, all the way to the ends of the earth.

Look at the sparkles!

No whales in sight, but I’m sure they’re out there in that vast ocean. It made me think of that iconic Linda Ronstadt song, Somewhere Out There. Seems about right for 2020, too.

The first few notes get me teary every single time. I never saw the film, An American Tail, but I might have to now.